Our article, led by the remarkable Xiangling Meng, on establishing CRISPR screens in neural #assembloids and #organoids is on the cover of Nature Protocols today
Sergiu P. Pasca
@sergiuppasca.bsky.social
Professor at Stanford & Director of Stanford Brain Organogenesis Lab: https://pascalab.org Center: http://www.brainorganogenesis.org TED: https://go.ted.com/6WJy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sergiu.p.pasca/
The 5th edition of the @cshlmeetings conference on Development and Modeling of the Human Brain with #assembloids and #organoids will take place in December. We will have a spectacular group of speakers and a series of selected talks from trainees. Deadline in September. More below 👇
Check out this Venice Neuroscience course on #assembloids, which I am co-organizing with @jimena-andersen.bsky.social and @fikri-birey.bsky.social, who developed the initial assembloid system a decade ago. It promises to be a fun week, with a spectacular lineup of speakers and in-depth discussions.
This week we welcome at Stanford a remarkable cohort from all the over the world for our hands-on course on human brain #assembloids & #organoids! Amazing energy as they learn methods developed in the lab over the years, and as we discuss and troubleshoot the projects they are building home.
Loved working on this story because it illustrates the interdependence of science: an innovation from one lab unexpectedly clears a roadblock that had stymied another, which then leads to advance that opens up a whole new space for others to explore. Thanks @sergiuppasca.bsky.social for sharing w me
The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 3mo agoAn organoid model unpicks the effects of serotonin-producing cells in the brainstem, a region that is rich in diverse cell types, thanks in part to specialized sensors. By @sarahdeweerdt.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/nov...
Deeply honored to receive the Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark Prize, and very grateful for this recognition as I look forward to delivering the lecture at Oxford @ox.ac.uk next week.
OxfordDPAG@oxforddpag.bsky.social · 3mo agoDPAG welcomes @sergiuppasca.bsky.social who we interviewed below, ahead of his lecture www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/news/an-inte...
“Over the next decade these stem-cell-based models will increasingly help reveal the biology of complex brain conditions & demystify diseases that have long remained inaccessible” says organoid guru @sergiuppasca.bsky.social in this Nature news piece on an elegant & beautiful area of modern science🧪
Mini models of the human brain are revealing how this complex organ takes shape
Lab-grown organoids are turbo-charging the study of human brain development and disease.
nature.com
Several staff scientist positions available in our lab at Stanford University! More details and application at the link below
This week we are introducing neuromodulatory assembloids. Over the past few years, many circuits and cell-cell interactions have been modeled in assembloids, but these systems have not systematically incorporated neuromodulation.
So fun to meet lab alumni at conferences and watch how their own labs are thriving! Really happy to see Jimena Andersen, now faculty at Emory University. When she was at Stanford, Jimena built 3-part #assembloids to study the corticospinal pathway
It is a privilege to join the Board of this organization committed to accelerating discoveries that accelerate our understanding and treatment of human disease by supporting fundamental research.
Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research@jcchildsfund.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe welcome Sergiu Pașca, M.D., @sergiuppasca.bsky.social to the JCC Board of Scientific Advisors! Learn more about Dr. Pașca and his lab in our latest blog post: www.jccfund.org/blog/new-sci...
The latest @nature.com paper from Drs. @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Daniel Geschwind's labs uses cortical #organoids to model #AutismSpectrumDisorder, and identifies how genetic risk can impact neurodevelopment. 🖇️ https://go.nature.com/4qZUzkS 🗨️ https://bit.ly/4thHuVG
I am happy to share our paper uncovering developmental convergence and divergence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using human stem cell models. This work was made possible through a wonderful collaboration with Sergiu Pasca’ lab @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Daniel Geschwind’s lab.
This week, we report in @nature.com our effort to identify molecular convergence and divergence in #autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using human stem cell models.
Risk associated with genetically defined forms of ASD can propagate by means of transcriptional regulation to affect convergently dysregulated pathways @nature.com @sergiuppasca.bsky.social @stanforduniversity.bsky.social @dgsomucla.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A recent @npr.org piece by highlights the recent Asilomar meeting we organized on ethical considerations surrounding human stem cell models (#organoids & #assembloids and their transplantation), focusing on emergent questions and the potential to uncover new biology and therapeutics. Audio below 👇
In our most recent publication in Nature Protocols, we outline detailed methods for performing CRISPR screens in neural #organoids and #assembloids. The integration of these approaches is becoming increasingly powerful for uncovering human biology and gaining mechanistic insights into disease.
Applications are pouring in for our international course on neural #assembloids taking place next spring on our beautiful Stanford campus This is the LAST day to apply! No deadline extensions. Please share 👇
Remarkable energy at the inaugural @cshlnews.bsky.social conference on Assembloids and complex cell–cell interactions across tissues and systems A wonderful series of talks so far highlighting advances & discoveries being made with these self-organizing systems and a few common themes are emerging
The inaugural conference on #assembloids and complex cell-cell interactions starting tonight at @cshlnews.bsky.social ! Amazing energy and inspiring opening keynote by Ruslan Medzhitov.
In a recent with Jan Carette’s lab, we introduce an #assembloid model for studying neuro-infection with enteroviruses including poliovirus. The videos below capture the loss of human muscle contraction, which is under the control of spinal cord neurons, after a week of infection.
Deadline approaching for participating in the international Stanford Course on Neural Assembloids in spring 2026! This is an immersive, hands-on course on generating, probing and manipulating stem cell-derived neural #assembloids and #organoids for disease and development modeling.
We are moving neuroscience forward with the support of our outstanding SAB. @marinlab.bsky.social @mbartos.bsky.social @sergiuppasca.bsky.social Luthi, Heneka, Sanchez-Vives & Moro
Centro de Neurociencias Cajal@cncajal-csic.bsky.social · 9mo agoThe Cajal Neuroscience Center announces the newly approved #ScientificAdvisoryBoard, established by #CSIC. We welcome its members and appreciate their support to our scientific strategy. SAB: O. Marín, A. Lüthi, M. Bartos, M. Heneka, M. Sánchez-Vives, S. Pasca, M. Á. Moro.
Looking forward to joining this group!
Centro de Neurociencias Cajal@cncajal-csic.bsky.social · 9mo agoThe Cajal Neuroscience Center announces the newly approved #ScientificAdvisoryBoard, established by #CSIC. We welcome its members and appreciate their support to our scientific strategy. SAB: O. Marín, A. Lüthi, M. Bartos, M. Heneka, M. Sánchez-Vives, S. Pasca, M. Á. Moro.
Article in @science.org on the Asilomar neural organoids meeting Sergiu Pasca & I co-organized last week. www.science.org/content/arti... Good summary...& we are still thinking about what comes next.
Lab-grown models of human brains are advancing rapidly. Can ethics keep pace?
Whether neural organoids feel pain or should be placed in animals are among the questions swirling around biology’s hot new technology
science.org
This week we introduced an #assembloid-based platform to begin studying how #enteroviruses affect human neuromuscular systems. This is a collaboration with Jan Carette here at Stanford. Work led by Christine Peters, Jimena Andersen and Min-Yin Li.
Perspectives in @ScieMagazine after our Asilomar conferences on neural #organoids and #assembloids www.science.org/content/arti...
Lab-grown models of human brains are advancing rapidly. Can ethics keep pace?
Whether neural organoids feel pain or should be placed in animals are among the questions swirling around biology’s hot new technology
science.org
Some ideas and discussions from our recent Asilomar meeting on the ethics and societal implications of neural organoid and assembloid research www.the-scientist.com/as-neural-or...
As Neural Organoid Research Accelerates, Scientists Discuss Ethics
Neuroscience experts convened in Asilomar to talk through guidelines around ethical research on human neural organoids.
the-scientist.com